Cody

Cody

Book Three in the Dallas
Billionaires Trilogy

By Kirsten
Osbourne

Copyright 2012 Kirsten
Osbourne

Cover Design by Shaina
Richmond of Gossamer Publishing

Smashwords
Edition

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Book Three in the Dallas
Billionaires Trilogy. After being rear-ended by a beautiful woman
on his way home from the Super Bowl, Cody realizes he’s found the
only woman in the world who is just right for him. How could he
possibly have fallen for the only woman in the world so independent
that his billions are a liability?

Chapter 1

Cody reached down and
fiddled with the radio while he was stopped at the traffic light.
He was on his way home from watching the Super Bowl with his two
best friends and business partners, Steven and Justin. Flipping
through the country stations, he finally settled on “Beer for my
Horses” by Toby Keith. He grinned. He wasn’t much of a horse guy,
but the song always made him laugh.

He glanced up and saw the
light was green, and just as he stepped on the gas he was forced
forward in his seat from the impact of the vehicle behind him.
Happy he was wearing his seat belt, he took stock for a moment,
making sure he was okay. Trucks were easily replaced. Despite his
billions, he drove a Ford F-350 and would until the day he died or
they finally quit making the things. A country boy was just as good
as his pick-up truck.

He opened the door and
strode the few feet back to see a beat up blue pick-up with a
pretty brunette behind the wheel. He opened the door to the truck
not able to take his eyes off her. “Are you okay?”

She nodded shakily. “I’ve
never rear-ended anyone before. I’m so sorry!” She reached into her
glove box and pulled out her insurance information to give
him.

“I don’t need that. We’ll
just keep this off the record Miss?”

“Cassidy. Amber Cassidy.”
She stared into his dark eyes, unable to calm her shaking enough to
get out of the car. How had she been so stupid? She knew her brakes
were causing her problems and she’d planned to fix them, but she
had decided to wait just one more month. The wreck was her fault
and she knew it.

“What do you do, Miss
Cassidy?” Cody could see how shaken up the woman was, so he tried
to talk to her about normal things to give her a chance to calm
down.

Her eyebrows drew together
as she wondered what that had to do with anything. “It’s Amber. I’m
a riding instructor at the Galloping Horse Ranch.” She didn’t
mention she owned it, but in a few months she’d pay off the last
mortgage, and she would finally have gotten back everything her
father had lost with his gambling debts.

“You sure you’re okay? Do
you need some help?” He held out his hand to help her to her
feet.

She ignored his hand and
shook her head. “I’ll be fine. I’m just a little shaky.” She took
deep breaths trying to calm her racing heart. What would he say
when he found out she knew her brakes were bad, and she’d tried to
put off fixing them?

He nodded and walked
around to the front of her vehicle to assess the damage. The back
end of his truck was dented pretty badly, but her entire front end
was crushed in. “Will it start?”

She pressed down the
clutch and turned the key. Nothing happened. “Doesn’t look like
it.” She shook her head and picked up her cell phone. “I guess I’d
better call a tow truck.” She sighed. How much would this take out
of the budget? More than the brake job would have she was
certain.

Cody grabbed the phone
from her hand. “I’ll take care of the tow.” He tucked her phone
into his pocket to keep her from calling anyone.

She gave him a blank look.
“I just rear-ended you. Aren’t you supposed to be yelling at me or
something? Why are you being so nice?” What was wrong with this
guy? Her negligence had just damaged his property and he acted as
if it was his fault.

He shrugged. “I guess I’m
just a nice guy.” He grabbed his wallet, looked at a card, pulled
out his own cell phone, and punched in a number. “I need a tow
truck.” He gave their location and quickly pushed the end button
putting his phone back into his pocket. “Where do you want it towed
to?”

“I don’t know.” She sighed
heavily worried about the cost of the repairs. “Do you know of a
good body shop?” A cheap body shop who did decent work was what she
meant, but she didn’t want to come right out and say it.

He raised an eyebrow.
“It’s going to cost a lot more to have it repaired than it would to
just replace it. Let me buy you a new one and dinner.” He’d never
actually offered to buy a woman a truck along with dinner before,
but she was incredible, and he needed to make an impression. Of
course, if she accepted he’d do it and walk away never looking
back. He’d been used for his money too many times in the past to
willfully walk into that situation again.

She shook her head and
stared at him in disbelief. “Let me get this straight. I rear-ended
you, messed up your truck, and you want to buy me a truck?” She
needed to go to the doctor and get her ears checked.

“Why not?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be
yelling at me for not paying attention to the road or being an
idiot or something?” What was with this guy? Of course, this was
much better than getting yelled at. Probably.

“Would that make you like
me better? Would you go out with me if I yelled at you?” A little
boy smile transformed his face.

She stared at him for a
moment trying to figure out what was wrong with the man. “You want
to know if yelling at me will make me go out with you?” She looked
around wondering when the men he’d escaped from would take him back
to the asylum. “Do you have some medication you’re supposed to
take?”

He reached out and stroked
her cheek. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Can I
buy you dinner? A truck? An engagement ring?”

She took a deep breath,
not sure how to respond. “Is there someone who takes care of you?
Someone I can call?”

He laughed out loud. “I
promise, my mind is as sound as yours.” He shrugged. “I just tend
to go after what I want, and I want you.” He reached out and took
her hand in his. “Let me drive you home and I’ll take you to dinner
on the way.” He’d just eaten with his friends, but he didn’t care.
He’d sit and watch her eat if it gave him more time with
her.

She eyed him skeptically.
“Do you even have a driver’s license?”

He reached into his pocket
pulled out his wallet took out his license and handed it to her.
“The State of Texas seems to think I’m capable of
driving.”

She looked at his license,
noting that he was thirty. The image was definitely him, and as she
read his name she wondered why it seemed so familiar. She shrugged
and handed the card back to him. “Okay, so you have a
license.”

“So can I drive you home
and take you to dinner?” His big brown eyes pled with her,
reminding her of a puppy dog.

She glanced at the time on
the dash of her truck. “It’s after ten. I ate a long time
ago.”

“Dessert then?”

She sighed. Maybe if she
agreed, he’d realize she was just a boring woman who worked too
much. “Fine. You can drive me home and buy me a dessert somewhere.
Is there anything even open at this time on a Sunday
night?”

He shrugged. “We can hit
an Applebees. They’re all open until two now.” He wanted to take
her somewhere nicer, but he that would have to wait until another
day.

The tow truck drove up and
he walked over to deal with the man. “Thanks for coming so
fast.”

The man nodded. “Anything
for you, sir. Where do you want it towed to?”

Cody lowered his voice so
Amber wouldn’t hear. “Tow it to an easily bribed mechanic. I’m
going to buy her a new truck, whether she wants it or not. I need
someone who will agree with me that this one is totaled.” He
slipped the man a bill as he shook his hand. “Call me with where
you tow it to. I’ll deal with her.”

“Anything you say.” The
tow truck driver transferred the hundred dollar bill into his
pocket and hooked up the tow truck.

“Bill this to my credit
card,” Cody told the man while Amber protested. He turned to her.
“You wouldn’t have hit anyone if I hadn’t been there, so in a way,
it’s my fault.” He knew his reasoning was flawed, but judging by
the age of her truck, she really didn’t have a lot of money to
waste on a tow.

She shook her head. “I
can’t let you pay for my tow when I rear ended you! That’s crazy!”
Where did this guy come from?

He shrugged and took her
arm, guiding her to the passenger side of his truck. After starting
the truck, he looked at her. “Where do you live?”

“I live on a ranch outside
Corral City. Thirty-five north.”

“Is that up near
Denton?”

“Yeah. Not far from
there.” She paused. “Why don’t you just drive me home? You don’t
need to buy me a dessert.”

He reached over and took
her hand in his as he drove toward Hwy. 114. “I want to. I can
either take you to Applebees up in Denton or there’s a Waffle House
in Roanoke we can eat at on our way to I-35.”

“Does Waffle House even
serve desserts?” She secretly loved Waffle House, because you never
knew who was going to show up there. There were always crazy
people, and the waitresses never seemed to have a filter telling
them what they shouldn’t say to a customer. It was a fun place to
eat. Her parents would have rolled over in their graves if they
knew, though. They thought Waffle House was too common for their
family.

He nodded. “They have this
triple chocolate pie that’s to die for. I don’t know if you like
chocolate, but if you don’t, you’ll have to get out of my truck and
walk home.”

She laughed. “I’m female.
I’m human. Therefore, I love chocolate.” She thought about it for a
minute. “Let’s do Waffle House. I could use a slice of chocolate
pie.”

“Sounds good to me!” He
grinned at her as he pulled up to a stop light in Roanoke. “Now, I
want you to know that I know where to take a beautiful woman on a
date, and Waffle House is not at the top of my list. So, you’ll
have to let me make it up to you that our first date will be at a
Waffle House.”

She swallowed. “Our first
date? Aren’t you getting a little bit ahead of yourself? I don’t
believe I’ve agreed to anything but a dessert at Waffle
House.”

He shrugged. “You will.
I’m going to marry you.” He wasn’t usually so over confident with
women, but he believed there was someone for everyone. Someone
everyone was destined to be with. He couldn’t have seen her and
felt the way he felt if she wasn’t his destiny.

Her jaw dropped. “Not
overly sure of yourself are you?”